Valve assembly with spherical shaped valve element having a passage therethrough for collapsible tubes



June 26, 1951 H. H. CHERRY 2,558,671

VALVE ASSEMBLY WITH, SPHERICAL SHAPED VALVE ELEMENT HAVING A PASSAGE THERETHROUGH FOR COLLAPSIBLE TUBES Filed July 17, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet l June 26, 1951 H. H. CHERRY 2,553,571

VALVE ASSEMBLY WITH SPHERICAL SHAPED VALVE ELEMENT HAVING A PASSAGE THERETHROUGH FOR COLLAPSIBLE TUBES Filed July 17, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented June 26, 1951 UNl-TED STATES PATENT Henry'HL Cherry, Houston, Tex

ipplicationluly 17, 1947, Serial No. 761,705

I Claim. I

This invention relates to a valve assembly with spherical shaped valve element having a passage therethrough, for collapsible tubes.

An object of the invention to provide an assembly of the character described which maybe applied to a container to control the discharge of the contents of the container. It has been particularly designed" for use in connection with containers in the form of tubes such as tubes for containing tooth paste; shaving cream and like contents.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a valve assembly that may bereadily applied to, and detached from, the conventional type of tube.

It is a further object of the invention to pro-- vide a valve assembly embodying a spherical shaped valve having: a passageway thereth-rough with a housing to snugly receive the valve and means for rotating the valve to open position in alignment with the container outlet or to closed position with bothends of the valve passageway sealed against the corresponding inside wall of the valve housing.

The invention also embodies stop' means for: limiting the movement of the valve toward open or closed position and which will. reduce the:

stresses on the valve actuating mechanism.

still further object of the invention is to provide in a valve assembly the type of valve hereinahove specified. which is mounted to rotate on an which is. not normal to the longitudinal oi the tube to the end that. the. circular: edge about the inlet end of the valve passageway will have a slicing. sheet, in closing the valve, on the contents being discharged.

The invention also embodies novel means: for locking the valve in closed position.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the following specification which is illustrated by the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the assembly shown mounted on a tube.

Figure 2 is a top plan View partly broken away and shown in section.

Figure 3 is a vertical, sectional View taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a top plan View of the valve seat showing the valve retaining housing removed.

Figure 5 is a side view of the seat.

Figure 6 is a bottom end view of the valve housing.

Figure 7 is a vertical, sectional view illustrating another embodiment of the invention.

Figure 8 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 8-8 of" Figure 7, and

Figure 9 is a side view of the valve housing shown in Figure 7, partly in section, and taken at right angles to the view shown in Figure '1'.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings wherein like numerals of reference designate the same parts in each of the figures, the nu meral i designates the valve seat having an axial discharge passageway 2 therethrough and whose lower end is internally threaded to receive the externally threaded neck' 3 of a conventional dispensing tube such as a tube of tooth paste, shaving cream or, the like.

The upper end of the seatv is formed with a concaved seating face 5 against which the spherical valve 5. seats snugly.

This valve has a diametrical discharge passageway 'l which is. in alignment with the passageway 2' when the valve is open.

Eccentric of the passagewayt the seating face 5 is formed with a conical shaped recess 3 and registering with this recess a and in the surface of' the valve 6 there is a similar recess 9 and in these recesses there is a pivot ball, [6.

Opposite the ball ill the valve 6 is formed with a side slot ll. which is parallel with thepassageway 1.

The base of the seatis also formed with theradial arcuate lugs l2,. l3, as best shown in Figures l and 5..v

Fitted over the valve l and valve seat l there is a housing It which is. shaped cylindrical, at its. base, to fitaround the seat land which, its outer end, is concaved and of a curvature to fit snugly about the valve 6[ This outer end has anoutlet opening it;- which aligns with the passageway l when the valve is open, that is when the" valve passageway l aligns with the seat passageway 22. This housing. has'thearcu ate lower end faces t 5'6 which ride on the lugs 52,. i6 and also has the depending areuate lugs' ll. andv l3. which are extended radially and which are located between the lugs l2, it, when the parts are assembled and saidlugs lg, it are spaced apart a sufficient distance to allow a limited turning movement of the housing I l.

The lugs l2, l3 of the seat 5 are therefore circumferentially aligned with the lugs ll, l 8 of the housing I l and the parts are maintained assembled by means of a flexible open ring I 9 which is channel shaped on the inner side and which may be sprung open and fitted over said registering lugs to maintain them in assembled relation and to allow them to turn relative to each other.

Fitted through one side of the housing Hi there is a pin 20 whose inner end projects into the slot ll.

When it is'desired to close the valve the housing l4 may be turned in a clockwise direction, as illustrated in Figure 2. This turning movement is continued until the forward ends of the lugs ii, is strike the opposing ends of the lugs I3, i2, respectively, whereupon such turning movement will be stopped. During this turning movement the valve 6 will also be turned, but the turning movement of the valve will be about a diametrical axis thereof which passes through the pivot ball l and therefore the ends of the valve passageway i will be carried out of alignment with the passageway 2 of the seat and the opening it: of the housing to the end that both ends of the passageway F will be closed and seated against the curved inside surface of the seating face and of the housing thus forming a double seal.

In order to open the valve the housing may be turned in a reverse direction until the lugs l7, [8 contact the opposing lugs l2, [3. The valve 6 will also be rotated, in reverse direction, about an axis passing diametrical through said valve and pivot ball I0 until the passageway is again aligned with the passageway 2.

It will be noted from an inspection of Figure 2 that the external marginal surface of the lug i2 is provided with spaced recesses 2!, 22 and the ring I9 is provided with an inside detent 23 which may be seated and thus temporarily locked, in either of said recesses.

The ring I9 also is provided with an inwardl turned lug 24 and when the detent 23 is seated in the recess 22 the lug 2 3 abuts against the op posite end of the lug l2. While in this position the valve may be freely operated as above explained. However, should it be desired to lock the housing i4 against accidental rotation the ring [9 may be turned until the detent 23 drops into the recess 2! and this will carry the locking lug 2G into position against the rear end of the housing lug ll thus locking the housing against the rotation.

In the embodiment illustrated in Figures 7 to 9, inclusive, the valve housing Ma is screwed directly onto the neck 3 of the tube 4 and the valve seat la is turnable in the housing.

In this form a resilient seal ring 25 is, preferably, located between the outer end of the neck 3 and the opposing end of the seat la. In this embodiment of the invention the valve 6 is provided with the discharge passageway l and the seat is provided with the outlet passageway 2, substantially as disclosed in the other embodiment just described, and the valve 6 of this embodiment also has a side slot ll into which the pin 20 of the housing Ma projects.

The housing Ma is provided with opposed arcuate slots 26, 26 extending in a circumferential direction and there are pins 21, 21 which extend through said slots and are anchored to the valve Ia and are provided with enlarged heads 28, 28 on their outer ends which may be grasped and turned in a clockwise direction as seen in Figure 8 to close the valve and in an anti-clockwise direction to open the valve.

In this form of the invention in actuating the valve to open or closed position the valve seat will be turned and the housing will remain stationary so that when the valve seat is turned the pivot ball ID will turnthe valve 6 but the pin 20 will prevent the valve from turning about an axis normal to the axis of the outlet passageway 2 so that said valve will turn about an axis extending diametrically of the valve through said pivot ball l0 and this will cause the passageway l to move out of alignment with the passageway 2 and the outlet opening when the seat is turned in one direction and into such alignment when the seat is turned in the other direction.

The drawings and description are illustrative merely while the broad principle of the invention will be defined by the appended claim.

What I claim is:

A valve assembly comprising, a valve seat having a concaved seating face and a passageway for fluid, a radial lug on the seat, a spherical valve on said face and having a passageway for fluid, a housing fitted over the valve and about the seat, a lug on the housing circumferentially aligned with the seat lug, clamp means embrac ing said aligned lugs to maintain the housing and seat assembled, said housing and seat being relatively rotatable about a common axis and said lugs being spaced to limit the range of such rotation in either direction, a pivotal connection between the valve and seat which is eccentric with respect to said axis, an operative connectionbetween the housing and valve efiective to cause relative rotation between the valve and seat upon relative rotation between the housing and seat, said pivotal connection between the Valve and seat being efiective to cause said valve to rotate about a diametrical axis which passes through said connection to move the valve passageway into and out of alignment with the seat passageway.

HENRY H. CHERRY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 133,215 Endicott Nov. 19, 1872 1,747,550 Klimburg Feb. 18, 1930 2,023,230 Hutton Dec. 3, 1935 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 736,015 France Sept. 12, 1932 

